Potion

After putting on Incursio, Tatsumi's physical strength and speed received an enormous boost.

But escaping Fourth Wolf's pursuit was impossible!

With Tatsumi's strength, killing a Special Class Dangerous Species was not difficult.

But if that Special Class Dangerous Species had a powerful Imperial Arm user riding on its back, that was another matter entirely.

As she rode Fourth Wolf in pursuit of Tatsumi, Lilith occasionally attacked him with water droplets.

Although Lilith was merely attacking casually, Tatsumi did not dare let the attacks hit him.

If he were injured at a time like this, he truly would not be able to escape.

Tatsumi used Red-backed Shrike to block all the water droplets.

However, as time passed, the number of water droplets Lilith controlled to attack Tatsumi steadily increased.

Gradually, water droplets began piercing Incursio on Tatsumi's body, injuring him.

As blood flowed, Tatsumi felt his stamina draining even faster. Before long, he feared he would no longer have the strength to keep wearing Incursio.

Bang~

As one water droplet slipped past Tatsumi's defenses and struck his body, another bloody hole appeared in him.

Tatsumi gave a bitter smile.

Perhaps Incursio would vanish from being too badly damaged before that even happened.

But either way, he was doomed to die.

"Still, even though I've been fleeing without any particular direction and constantly changing course, I really have moved far away from the base. She shouldn't be able to find it now."

Listening to the thudding of Fourth Wolf's four hooves behind him, Tatsumi could tell that Fourth Wolf was getting closer and closer.

This wouldn't do. Tatsumi gritted his teeth.

At this rate, he would be caught.

For the moment, Tatsumi had no other option but to run toward denser woods.

Hopefully, the thick forest would cause that Dangerous Species some trouble.

"Damn it, don't I even have the strength to escape her?"

Tatsumi bitterly hated his own weakness.

Bang~

After shattering too many water droplets, his numbed hands finally could no longer withstand Lilith's attacks.

When another water droplet hit him, Tatsumi's body was sent flying helplessly before crashing heavily onto the ground.

"Ugh..."

Tatsumi struggled to his feet. He could not fall here.

But after taking too many attacks, Incursio was already on the verge of disappearing.

"No! It can't end like this. Just a little longer—Incursio, I need you! I need your power!"

Tatsumi forcibly gathered the last trace of his strength and ran in another direction.

He remembered that there was a cliff in that direction.

A cliff might seem like a dead end, but for him now, it was nearly his only way to survive!

He refused to believe that without Incursio protecting her like it protected him, she would dare jump off the cliff!

In the end, with Lilith deliberately holding back, Tatsumi achieved his goal and escaped by leaping off the cliff.

"Lilith, you may be stronger now, but one day, I will definitely kill you!"

As Tatsumi fell from the cliff, he stared coldly at Lilith above and silently swore that he could not remain this weak any longer!

Lilith watched the falling figure beneath the cliff with great satisfaction.

Just now, she had clearly sensed Incursio's power awakening once more. At this rate, Tyrant would revive after at most two or three more times!

Of course, this referred to Tatsumi calling upon Tyrant's power to awaken in desperate circumstances, not summoning Incursio normally.

Still, she would have plenty more chances to meet Night Raid in the future.

Lilith felt that before long, a dragon would be resurrected under her command!

Testing Big Wolf and the others' strength had taken half the night, and forcing out Tatsumi's potential had taken another half.

Lilith estimated that dawn would break soon.

"Let's go back."

Lilith patted Fourth Wolf's neck, and Fourth Wolf headed back toward the Imperial Capital, moving more than a third faster than when it had chased Tatsumi!

By the time Lilith returned to the Imperial Capital, the sky had already brightened.

When she returned to her residence in the Imperial Capital, she was eating breakfast rather than dinner.

"I heard you left the Imperial Capital after finishing your work and didn't return until the next day?"

Not long after Lilith finished eating, Esdeath came over.

"Yes. Testing something."

Esdeath did not ask further. She was not particularly curious about other people's privacy.

"I came this time to ask you for some of that potion."

"...What do you want that for? Didn't I already give you a bottle?"

The potion Esdeath spoke of was something Lilith had concocted a few years ago.

It had only one effect: it prevented wounds from healing and made blood flow several times faster than normal!

Did that effect sound familiar?

That's right—it was the ability Big Wolf and the others had inherited.

Lilith had been rather speechless about Big Wolf and the others inheriting such an ability.

Because the so-called "potion" was simply a substance secreted by Lilith's fangs, diluted with water.

Lilith's fangs were usually retracted. Of course, under her control, she could easily make them emerge.

One day, Lilith discovered that her fangs seemed to be hollow, with some kind of special substance able to flow out from within.

After experimenting, Lilith learned—

This substance could induce hallucinations, paralyze people, eliminate their sense of pain, and act as an aphrodisiac.

Among those effects, preventing wounds from healing was the most inconspicuous one.

While Lilith was experimenting with the secretions from her fangs, Esdeath discovered it.

Esdeath expressed curiosity about the potion Lilith used. To brush her off, Lilith simply controlled the secretion so that it retained only the effects of preventing wounds from healing and accelerating blood flow, then diluted it with water and gave it to Esdeath.

After obtaining this potion, Esdeath remained excited for quite some time.

During that period, Esdeath tortured many prisoners of war.

The prisoners' screams in the cellar never ceased.

"Recently, I found a kind of flower that can amplify the pain from wounds by more than ten, even several dozen times."

Esdeath revealed a bloodthirsty smile. "I thought of your potion. If I add the juice of that flower to it, I'm sure I'll get something interesting."

Esdeath glanced at Lilith, making it clear that this would not be free. "If you're interested, I can give you a bottle of the finished product."